Stereoscopic cluster for vehicle, system including the cluster, and method for providing stereoscopic screen

ABSTRACT

A stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle may include: a processor configured to: detect at least one pair of left and right eyes from acquired image data; distinguish a pair of left and right eyes of a first user among at least two pairs of left and right eyes when the at least two pairs of left and right eyes are detected; and provide a stereoscopic screen based on the distinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user; and a display controlled by the processor to display the stereoscopic screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2018-0083424, filed on Jul. 18, 2018, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle,a system including the cluster, and a method for providing astereoscopic screen.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background informationrelated to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

Generally, a cluster may be installed on a dashboard of a vehicle andmay display gauges such as a driving speed, an engine rotation speed,and a fuel amount, etc. In recent years, a stereoscopic cluster has alsobeen developed that provides a 3D screen.

A conventional stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle may implement astereoscopic effect by sensing a pair of left and right eyes of a driverusing a camera and by using a visual difference between the left andright eyes.

However, we have discovered that the conventional stereoscopic clusterfor a vehicle has a following downside: when there are multiplepassengers on the vehicle, the camera will detect all of pairs of leftand right eyes of the passengers, and, thus, the cluster will provide astereoscopic screen for the multiple pairs of left and right eyes. As aresult, a sharpness of the stereoscopic screen may be lowered, and thedriver may not be provided with a clear stereoscopic screen.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure addresses the above-mentioned problems occurringin the prior art while advantages achieved by the prior art aremaintained intact.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a stereoscopic cluster fora vehicle, a system including the cluster and a method for providing astereoscopic screen by which, in detection of multiple pairs of left andright eyes, a pair of left and right eyes of an actual driver may bedistinguished between the multiple pairs of left and right eyes toprovide a clear stereoscopic screen.

The technical problems to be solved by the present inventive concept arenot limited to the aforementioned problems, and any other technicalproblems not mentioned herein will be clearly understood from thefollowing description by those skilled in the art to which the presentdisclosure pertains.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a stereoscopiccluster for a vehicle includes: a processor which detects at least onepair of left and right eyes from acquired image data, distinguishes apair of left and right eyes of a first user among at least two pairs ofleft and right eyes when the at least two pairs of left and right eyesare detected, and provides a stereoscopic screen based on thedistinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user, and adisplay which is controlled by the processor to display the stereoscopicscreen.

In one form of the cluster, the processor may determine presence orabsence of a second user other than the first user in the vehicle, andwhen the second user other than the first user is present, maydistinguish the pair of left and right eyes of the first user among theat least two pairs of left and right eyes.

In another form of the cluster, the processor may determine, based on areceived sensed value from an ultrasonic sensor for sensing movementwithin the vehicle, or from a mat sensor for sensing whether acorresponding seat is seated, whether the second user other than thefirst user is present in the vehicle.

In one form of the cluster, when the at least two pairs of left andright eyes are detected and the second user other than the first user ispresent, the processor may distinguish the pair of left and right eyesof the first user based on a dimension of each of the at least two pairsof left and right eyes, and based on a distance between each of the atleast two pairs of left and right eyes and the stereoscopic cluster.

In another form of the cluster, when the at least two pairs of left andright eyes are detected and the second user other than the first user isabsent, the processor may determine whether current time is nighttime.

In other form of the cluster, when the at least two pairs of left andright eyes are detected, the second user other than the first user isabsent, and the current time is the nighttime, the processor maydistinguish the pair of left and right eyes of the first user based on adimension of each of the at least two pairs of left and right eyes, andbased on a distance between each of the at least two pairs of left andright eyes and the stereoscopic cluster.

In an exemplary form of the cluster, when the at least two pairs of leftand right eyes are detected, the second user is absent in the vehicle,and the current time is daytime, the processor may determine a currentstate as an abnormal state.

In another exemplary form of the cluster, when it is determined that thecurrent state is the abnormal state, the processor may control thedisplay to provide a two-dimensional (2D) screen thereon.

In one form of the cluster, when the abnormal state returns to a normalstate while the 2D screen is being presented, the processor may providea pop-up on the display such that the first user selects whether tochange the current 2D screen to the stereoscopic screen.

In another form of the cluster, the processor may determine, based oninformation received from an auto-light sensor and/or informationreceived from a navigation device, whether the current time isnighttime.

In other form of the cluster, the processor may detect a face zone ofthe first user, detect features in the detected face zone, and trackcoordinates of left-right eyes among the features.

In an exemplary form of the cluster, the display may include an imagepanel including a right-eye image pixel for providing a right image fora right-eye, and a left-eye image pixel for providing a left image for aleft-eye, and a barrier disposed on a front face of the image panel,wherein the barrier is controlled by the processor.

In another exemplary form of the cluster, the processor may control thebarrier based on a position of the pair of left and right eyes of thefirst user.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system mayinclude a passenger detection device which detects presence or absenceof a passenger in a vehicle, and a stereoscopic cluster for the vehicle,wherein the cluster detects at least one pair of left and right eyesfrom acquired image data, distinguishes a pair of left and right eyes ofa first user among at least two pairs of left and right eyes when the atleast two pairs of left and right eyes are detected, and provides astereoscopic screen based on the distinguished pair of left and righteyes of the first user.

According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, a methodfor providing a stereoscopic screen may include: detecting, by aprocessor, at least one pair of left and right eyes from acquired imagedata; when at least two pairs of left and right eyes are detected,distinguishing, by the processor, a pair of left and right eyes of afirst user among the at least two pairs of left and right eyes; andproviding, by the processor, a stereoscopic screen based on thedistinguished pair of left and right eyes.

In one form of the method, the distinguishing the pair of left and righteyes of the first user may include, when a number of the detected pairsof left and right eyes in the vehicle is at least two, determiningpresence or absence of a second user other than the first user in thevehicle, and when the second user other than the first user is present,distinguishing the pair of left and right eyes of the first user basedon a dimension of each of the at least two pairs of left and right eyes,and based on a distance between each of the at least two pairs of leftand right eyes and a stereoscopic cluster.

In another form of the method, the distinguishing the pair of left andright eyes of the first user may further include, when the number of thedetected pairs of left and right eyes in the vehicle is at least two andthe second user other than the first user is absent in the vehicle,determining whether current time is nighttime; and when it is determinedthat the current time is the nighttime, distinguishing the pair of leftand right eyes of the first user based on the dimension of each of theat least two pairs of left and right eyes, and based on the distancebetween each of the at least two pairs of left and right eyes and thestereoscopic cluster.

In other form of the method, the distinguishing the pair of left andright eyes of the first user may include, when the current time isdaytime, determining a current state as an abnormal state, and providinga two-dimensional (2D) screen for the first user.

In an exemplary form of the method, the method may further include,continuously determining, by the processor, whether the second user ispresent and determining the current time while the 2D screen is beingpresented, and when it is determined, based on the determination result,that the abnormal state returns to a normal state, providing a pop-upfor changing the 2D screen to a stereoscopic screen.

In another exemplary form of the method, the determining the presence orabsence of the second user may include, determining whether the seconduser other than the first user is present in the vehicle based on areceived sensed value from an ultrasonic sensor for sensing movementwithin the vehicle, or from a mat sensor for sensing whether acorresponding seat is seated.

In other form of the method, the providing the stereoscopic screen mayinclude controlling a barrier based on a position of the pair of leftand right eyes of the first user.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. It should be understood that the description andspecific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

In order that the disclosure may be well understood, there will now bedescribed various forms thereof, given by way of example, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration of a stereoscopic clustersystem for a vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a front exemplary view of a stereoscopic cluster for avehicle;

FIG. 3 is an illustration about how a stereoscopic cluster for a vehicledetermines presence or absence of a passenger in a vehicle;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a method for distinguishing a pair of leftand right eyes of a first user between multiple pairs of left and righteyes by a stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view of a display that encourages conversion of a2D screen to a stereoscopic or 3D screen during the 2D screen display ona stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a structure of a stereoscopic cluster usinga barrier control scheme;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for illustrating a method for providing astereoscopic screen by a stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for detecting left andright eyes by a stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle; and

FIG. 9 shows a computing system.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is notintended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. Itshould be understood that throughout the drawings, correspondingreference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.

In adding reference denotations to elements of each drawing, althoughthe same elements are displayed on a different drawing, it should benoted that the same elements have the same denotations. In addition, indescribing one form of the present disclosure, if it is determined thata detailed description of related well-known configurations or functionsblurs the gist of one form of the present disclosure, it will beomitted.

In describing elements of forms of the present disclosure, the terms1st, 2nd, first, second, A, B, (a), (b), and the like may be usedherein. These terms are only used to distinguish one element fromanother element, but do not limit the corresponding elementsirrespective of the nature, turn, or order of the correspondingelements. Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, includingtechnical or scientific terms, have the same meanings as those generallyunderstood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosurepertains. Such terms as those defined in a generally used dictionary areto be interpreted as having meanings equal to the contextual meanings inthe relevant field of art, and are not to be interpreted as having idealor excessively formal meanings unless clearly defined as having such inthe present application.

In accordance with the present disclosure, when a passenger-in-vehicledetection system, and an auto-light sensor detect multiple pairs of leftand right eyes in the vehicle, a pair of left and right eyes of a firstuser, that is, a driver may be distinguished between the multiple pairsof left and right eyes. Thus, a barrier may be controlled based on thedistinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user to providethe first user with a clear stereoscopic screen. Further, a stereoscopicscreen may be adapted to an abnormal state.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, forms of the presentdisclosure will be specifically described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration of a stereoscopic clustersystem for a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a front exemplary view of a stereoscopiccluster for a vehicle.

The stereoscopic cluster system for a vehicle may include a stereoscopiccluster 100 for a vehicle, an image acquisition device 200, a passengerdetection device 300, an auto-light sensor 400, and a navigation device500.

The stereoscopic cluster 100 for a vehicle may enhance the driver'sperception by displaying various information and alerts on astereoscopic screen via applying a liquid crystal display (LCD)-based 3Dstereoscopic technique to a vehicle cluster. The stereoscopic cluster100 for a vehicle may include a communication module 110, a display 120,storage 130, and a processor 140.

The communication module 110 may communicate with various devices withinthe vehicle such as the image acquisition device 200, the passengerdetection device 300, the auto-light sensor 400, the navigation device500, etc. Such communication may be based on vehicle communication suchas controller area network (CAN) communication, and the like.

The display 120 may display a 2D screen (a flat screen), or a 3D screen(a stereoscopic screen). A specific structure of the display 120 will beillustrated with reference to FIG. 3 below. The display 120 may includeat least one or more of a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emittingdiode display (LED), an organic light emitting diode display (OLED), aplasma image display device (PDP), and an electroluminescent display(EL). Referring to FIG. 2, the display 120 may display vehicledrive-related information such as vehicle fuel consumption, speed, RPM,average fuel consumption as well as information about surroundingsadjacent to the vehicle.

The storage 130 may store information produced from the processor 140,and information received from the image acquisition device 200, thepassenger detection device 300, the auto-light sensor 400, thenavigation device 500, and the like. The storage 130 may include astorage medium such as at least one or more of a flash type memory, ahard disk type memory, a micro type memory, a card type memory (forexample, an SD (Secure Digital) card, or an XD (eXtream Digital) card),RAM (random access memory), SRAM (static RAM), ROM (read-only memory),PROM (programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), MRAM(magnetic), a magnetic disk type memory, and an optical disc typememory.

The processor 140 may detect at least one or more pairs of left andright eyes of passengers in the vehicle, to distinguish a pair of leftand right eyes of the first user (driver) among the at least one or morepairs of left and right eyes, and to provide a stereoscopic screen basedon the distinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user. Theprocessor 140 may be configured to determine positions of a face andeyes of the first user as received from an infra-red (IR) camera 210 andto control a barrier based on the determined positions of the face andeyes of the first user.

The processor 140 performing the functions as described above may beimplemented with an electrical circuit that executes instructions insoftware. Further, the processor may perform various functionsillustrated below. The processor 140 may be implemented using an air-bagcontrol unit (ACU) for a vehicle, an integrated body unit (IBU) for avehicle, or the like.

To this end, the processor 140 may acquire the coordinates of the leftand right eyes from image data acquired from the image acquisitiondevice 200. That is, the processor 140 may detect a face zone of thefirst user from the image data received from the image acquisitiondevice 200, and detect features in the detected face zone. In thisconnection, a landmark or feature may include eyes, nose, mouth, ears,etc. The processor 140 may track coordinates (X, Y) of left and righteyes among the landmarks or features.

When a single left and right-eye pair is detected from the image data,the processor 140 may determine that the pair of left and right eyes isthe pair of left and right eyes of the first user (driver). Thus, abarrier in the display 120 may be controlled based on a distance betweenthe pair of left and right eyes of the first user and the stereoscopiccluster 100 for a vehicle, or the IR camera 210 to provide astereoscopic screen. In this connection, the barrier for implementingthe stereoscopic screen may be controlled differently based on thedistance between the pair of left and right eyes of the first user andthe IR camera 210 or the stereoscopic cluster 100 for a vehicle or thelike.

Further, when multiple pairs of left and right eyes are detected fromthe image data, the processor 140 may use detection results from anultrasonic sensor 310 and a mat sensor 320 to determine whether there isa passenger other than the first user. That is, the processor 140 maydetermine a movement of an object in the vehicle via the ultrasonicsensor 310 and may determine a seated or unseated state of the passengervia the mat sensor 320. Further, the processor 140 may determinepresence or absence of the passenger using signals from a front driverdoor switch (not shown), a rear passenger door switch (not shown), andthe like. FIG. 3 is an illustration of an operation to determine absenceor presence of a passenger by the stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle.Referring to FIG. 3, the ultrasonic sensor 310 may transmit the resultof motion detection in the vehicle to the IBU. Then, the IBU may use thedetection result from the ultrasonic sensor 310 to determine absence orpresence of a passenger other than the first user. The IBU may then usethe ICU to provide a stereoscopic screen to the display 120.

When multiple pairs of left and right eyes are detected and there is apassenger other than the first user, the processor 140 may calculate adimension of each of the pairs of left and right eyes and a distancebetween each of the multiple pairs of left and right eyes and the IRcamera 210 mounted on the stereoscopic cluster 100 or the stereoscopiccluster 100 for a vehicle. Then, the processor may distinguish a pair ofleft and right eyes of the first user (driver) between the multiplepairs of left and right eyes based on the calculated dimension and/ordistance. In this connection, the dimension of the pair of left andright eyes may be a dimension of a contour of the pair of left and righteyes and/or a distance between center points of the left and right eyes.That is, the pair of left and right eyes of the first user located onthe driver seat may be closer to the stereoscopic cluster 100 than thepair of left and right eyes of the passenger located on the frontpassenger seat or rear passenger seat. Thus, the dimension of the pairof left and right eyes of the first user located on the driver seat maybe greater than the dimension of the pair of left and right eyes of thepassenger located on the front passenger seat or rear passenger seat.Thus, the processor 140 may distinguish, as the pair of left and righteyes of the first user, the pair of left and right eyes with thegreatest distance between the center points of the left and right eyesand/or the greatest contour dimension of the left and right-eye pair.Further, the processor 140 may distinguish the pair of left and righteyes having the closest distance to the stereoscopic cluster 100 as thepair of left and right eyes of the first user. The processor 140 maycontrol the barrier in the display 120 based on position information ofthe pair of left and right eyes of the first user to provide astereoscopic screen. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method fordistinguishing the pair of left and right eyes of the first user betweenmultiple pairs of left and right eyes by the stereoscopic cluster.Referring to FIG. 4, when a distance D1 between a first user 60 and theIR camera 210 and a distance D2 between a second user 70 as a passengeron the rear passenger seat and the IR camera 210 are compared with eachother, the distance D1 may be smaller than the distance D2. That is, thepair of left and right eyes having the shortest distance from the IRcamera 210 may correspond to the pair of left and right eyes of thefirst user, i.e., the driver.

In one form, when multiple pairs of left and right eyes are detected butno other passenger is present, the processor 140 may determine, based oninformation received from the auto-light sensor 400 or temporalinformation received from the navigation device 500, whether a currenttime is a nighttime or daytime. Alternatively, the processor 140 maydetermine, based on a combination of the information received from theauto-light sensor 400 and the temporal information received from thenavigation device 500, whether a current time is a nighttime or daytime.

Further, the processor 140 may compare an illumination level outside thevehicle received from the auto-light sensor 400 with a predeterminedthreshold level. When the outside illuminance level is lower than thepredetermined threshold level, the processor may determine that thecurrent time is nighttime. Alternatively, when the processor 140receives light turn-on signal from the auto-light sensor 400, theprocessor 140 may determine that the current time is nighttime.

A face of the first user may be reflected on a window by an indoor lightor the IR camera 210 may detect a face zone of the face reflected on thewindow. In this case, despite having only the first user in the vehicle,a false pair of left and right eyes may be detected on the window or IRcamera 210, which allows multiple pairs of left and right eyes to befalsely detected. This phenomenon may frequently occur especially when acurrent time is nighttime. Thus, when the multiple pairs of left andright eyes are detected, there is no passenger other than the firstuser, and current time is nighttime, the processor 140 may determinesome of the left and right eyes pairs as false left and right eyes pairsand thus, may distinguish only a true pair of left and right eyes of thefirst user. The processor 140 may use a position of an imagephotographed from the IR camera 210 to distinguish between false leftand right eyes pairs visible on a window at nighttime and the true pairof left and right eyes of the first user. Additionally or alternatively,the processor 140 may use any of a variety of conventional techniquesthat may distinguish between the true pair of left and right eyes of thefirst user and the false multiple pairs of left and right eyes reflectedonto windows or cameras.

To the contrary, when determined that multiple pairs of left and righteyes are detected, no passenger other than the first user is present,and the current time is daytime, the processor 140 may determine that acurrent state is an abnormal state and may provide a 2D screen. This isbecause when no passenger other than the first user is present, and thecurrent time is daytime, the multiple pairs of left and right eyescannot be normally detected.

In this way, the processor 140 may determine the current state to be theabnormal state and may provide a 2D screen rather than a stereoscopicscreen. Meantime, the processor may continue to monitor left andright-eye pair detection, presence or absence of a passenger other thanthe driver or the first user, current time change, etc. When it isdetermined based on the monitoring result that the current state goesout of the abnormal state, that is, the current state returns to thenormal state, the processor may display a pop-up screen to provide astereoscopic screen, allowing the first user to choose to switch from acurrent 2D screen to a stereoscopic screen. In this connection, thenormal state may include a case in which multiple pairs of left andright eyes are detected and the second user is present in addition tothe first user, and a case in which multiple pairs of left and righteyes are detected, the second user does not exist in the vehicle inaddition to the first user, and the current time is nighttime. Forexample, when multiple pairs of left and right eyes are detected, onlythe first user exists in the vehicle, and the current time is daytime,this state may be determined as an abnormal state. After a certainperiod of time, multiple pairs of left and right eyes may be detectedagain when only the first user exists in the vehicle and the currenttime is changed to nighttime. This may mean that the current state hasreturned to the normal state.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view of a screen 700 that encourages conversionof a 2D screen to a stereoscopic or 3D screen during the 2D screendisplay on a stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle. Referring to FIG. 5, asuggestion popup “Do you want to convert a current screen to astereoscopic screen” and a “Yes” or “No” button may be displayed on acentral area of the display 120. When the first user desires to switchto the stereoscopic screen, the first user may touch the “Yes” button.

The image acquisition device 200 may capture the face of the driver(i.e., the first user) seated in the driver seat of the vehicle, and theface of the passenger seated in the passenger seat and the rear seat,and may provide image data to the stereoscopic cluster 100. To this end,the image acquisition device 200 may include the IR camera 210.Referring to FIG. 2, the IR camera 210 may be mounted on a middleportion of a bottom of the stereoscopic cluster 100. The IR camera 210may also capture the faces of users 10, 20 and 30 facing thestereoscopic cluster 100.

The passenger detection device 300 may detect presence or absence of apassenger on a front passenger seat or a rear passenger seat other thanthe driver seat and may provide the detection result to the stereoscopiccluster 100. For this purpose, the passenger detection device 300 mayinclude the ultrasonic sensor 310 and the mat sensor 320. The ultrasonicsensor 310 may sense movement of an object in the vehicle. The matsensor 320 may be mounted in a front passenger seat or a rear passengerseat and may detect whether a passenger is seated on the seat andwhether a person or an object is placed on the seat. In this connection,the mat sensor 320 may be classified into a weight-sensing type sensorand a dielectric type sensor. The weight-sensing type mat sensor 320 maydetermine whether a person or an object over 30 kg is seated on thecorresponding mat. The dielectric type mat sensor 320 may detect, basedon an electric conductivity, whether a person is seated on the seat,and/or whether a person or object is disposed on the corresponding seat.Although only one ultrasonic sensor 310 and one mat sensor 320 are shownin FIG. 1, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. A plurality ofultrasonic sensors 310, and a plurality of mat sensors 320 may beprovided. Alternatively or in addition to the ultrasonic sensor and themat sensor, various sensors may be provided which include an infraredsensor, an optical sensor, a contact sensor, etc. to sense thepassenger.

The auto-light sensor 400 may measure an illuminance level outside thevehicle and provide the measured level to the stereoscopic cluster 100.The auto-light sensor 400 may be configured to sense the brightness ofthe light (illuminance). The auto-light sensor 400 may convert anoptical signal into an electrical signal and transmit the convertedsignal to the processor 140. The auto-light sensor 400 may be configuredto output an electrical signal (voltage) proportional to externalbrightness using a photoelectric conversion device such as a photodiodeor the like.

The navigation device 500 may feed temporal information to thestereoscopic cluster 100, and may include a vehicle's AVN (audio, video,navigation) functionality.

As described above, the stereoscopic cluster 100 according to thepresent disclosure may distinguish only the pair of left and right eyesof the first user (driver) even when multiple pairs of left and righteyes are detected, and, thus, may control the barrier based on thedistinguished pair, thereby providing a clear stereoscopic screen to thefirst user.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a stereoscopic clusterusing a barrier control scheme.

Referring to FIG. 6, the display 120 of FIG. 1 may include an imagepanel 121 and a barrier 122. The display 120 may include the image panel(e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel) 121 and the barrier 122disposed on the image panel. In this connection, the LCD acts as ascreen to output a captured image. The barrier may be embodied as aliquid crystal to control a stereoscopic feeling in a 3D image bymasking one image among corresponding left-right images such that theleft-rights eyes of the user may view different images.

The image panel 121 may include a right-eye image pixel 125 forproviding an image to the right-eye 12 and a left-eye image pixel 126for providing an image to the left-eye 11. The image panel 121 may beimplemented with an LCD or the like.

The barrier 122 may be implemented with a parallax barrier. In thiscase, the barrier may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) typebarrier. The barrier may include a horizontal alternating arrangement oflight-blocking portions 123 and light-transmitting portions 124. Thebarrier 122 may be disposed on a front face of the image panel 121.Further, the barrier 122 may operate in a normally white mode in which aliquid crystal layer blocks light when a voltage is applied to anelectrode.

The user may view an image displayed on the image panel 121 through thelight-transmitting portion 124 of the barrier 122. The left-eye and theright-eye may view, through the same light-transmitting portion 124,different areas in the image panel 121. That is, the left-eye andright-eye of the user may view different images displayed from theleft-eye image pixel and the right-eye image pixel, respectively,through the same light-transmitting portion 124. This allows the user toexperience a stereoscopic feeling.

Particularly, the 3D display method using the parallax barrier may berealized in a following manner: thin stripe-like vertical slits fortransmitting or blocking light are arranged at regular intervals, andleft and right images are alternately arranged at appropriate intervalsin front of or behind the vertical slits. Therefore, when the left andright images are viewed through the slits at a specific point in time,the left and right images may be strictly separated in a geometrical andoptical manner such that the user feels stereoscopic. In other words, astriped parallax barrier optical plate that functions as a specialeyeglass may be placed in front of the monitor screen to allow the userto recognize the stereoscopic image without wearing specific glasses.

In this way, the stereoscopic scheme via the barrier control maydistinguish, via the barrier 122, between screen areas in the imagepanel 121 as viewed by the right-eye and left-eye, thereby realizing astereoscopic effect as a kind of optical illusion. Thus, the processor140 may determine the position of the barrier at which the barrier 122should be activated, based on the distance between the pair of left andright eyes of the first user and the image panel 121. That is, theprocessor 140 may selectively activate one or more of the plurality ofalternately arranged light-blocking portions 123 based on the positionof the pair of left and right eyes of the first user to provide astereoscopic screen. Thus, according to the present disclosure, theactivated light blocking portion 123 may allow the right-eye not to beable to see the screen area visible to the left-eye, while allowing theleft-eye not to see the screen area that the right-eye can see. Thereby,a stereoscopic effect can be realized.

Accordingly, when two or more left and right eyes pairs are detectedfrom the image data, the processor may detect the pair of left and righteyes of the first user among the two or more left and right eyes pairs,and may perform the barrier control based on the distance between thedetected pair of left and right eyes of the first user and the imagepanel 121. This may provide a clear stereoscopic screen.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 7, a flowchart for illustrating a methodfor providing the stereoscopic screen by the stereoscopic cluster in onefoam of the present disclosure will be illustrated. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing the stereoscopic screen by thestereoscopic cluster in another foam of the present disclosure. In thefollowing, it may be assumed that the processor 140 of the stereoscopiccluster 100 of FIG. 1 performs the process of FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 7, the stereoscopic cluster 100 may detect one or morepairs of left and right eyes from the image data received from the imageacquisition device 200 (S101).

Then, the stereoscopic cluster 100 may determine whether the number ofthe detected left and right eyes pairs are plural (S102). When thenumber of the detected pairs is not multiple but single, thestereoscopic cluster 100 may determine that the pair of left and righteyes as detected is the pair of left and right eyes of the first user.Thus, the cluster may control the barrier based on the position of thepair of left and right eyes of the first user (S103). This allows thecluster to provide a stereoscopic screen (S108).

Conversely, when the number of the detected left and right eyes pairsare multiple, the stereoscopic cluster 100 may determine whether apassenger other than the first user is present in the vehicle (S104). Inthis connection, the stereoscopic cluster 100 may use the sensed resultfrom the ultrasonic sensor 310 and the mat sensor 320 to determinewhether there is a passenger other than the first user.

When there is a passenger other than the first user, the stereoscopiccluster 100 may identify the pair of left and right eyes of the firstuser using the positions of the left and right eyes pairs and thedimensions of the left and right eyes pairs (S105). In other words,among the left and right eyes pairs, the pair of left and right eyeshaving the largest distance from the stereoscopic cluster or the IRcamera mounted on the stereoscopic cluster and/or having the largestdimension may be determined as the pair of left and right eyes of thefirst user by the stereoscopic cluster 100. Thus, the stereoscopiccluster 100 may control the barrier based on the position of thedistinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user (S103). Thecluster may then provide the stereoscopic screen (S108).

In contrast, when it is determined from the determination result ofoperation S104 that there is no passenger other than the first user, thestereoscopic cluster 100 may determine whether the current time isnighttime (S106).

When the current time is nighttime, the stereoscopic cluster 100 maydetermine that the plurality of left and right eyes pairs include falseleft and right eyes pairs reflected on the window, in addition to thepair of left and right eyes of the first user. Thus, the stereoscopiccluster 100 may distinguish the pair of left and right eyes of the firstuser (S105). Then, the cluster may control the barrier based on thelocation of the distinguished pair of left and right eyes of the firstuser. Subsequently, the cluster may provide the stereoscopic screen(S108).

Conversely, when it is determined from the determination result of theoperation S106 that the current time is a daytime other than anighttime, the stereoscopic cluster 100 may determine that the currentstate is an abnormal state because the multiple pairs of left and righteyes have been detected even in a condition that the multiple pairs ofleft and right eyes cannot be normally detected. The cluster may thencontrol the barrier to provide a 2D screen (S107). Then, thestereoscopic cluster 100 may output a 2D screen.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 8, a method for detecting the pairs ofleft and right eyes by the stereoscopic cluster in one form of thepresent disclosure will be exemplified. FIG. 8 is a flow chartillustrating a method for detecting pairs of left and right eyes by thestereoscopic cluster. In the following, it may be assumed that theprocessor 140 of the stereoscopic cluster 100 of FIG. 1 performs theprocess of FIG. 8.

The stereoscopic cluster 100 may receive the image data capturing theface from the image acquisition device 200 (S201). Then, the cluster maydetect a face zone in the received image data (S202). In thisconnection, the method of detecting the face zone in face image data maybe performed based on various conventional techniques.

Then, the stereoscopic cluster 100 may detect features such as eye,nose, mouth, and ear in the face zone (S203). The stereoscopic cluster100 may then track the coordinates of left and right eyes among thelandmarks or features, thereby acquiring the coordinates of the pairs ofleft and right eyes (S204).

In this way, the stereoscopic cluster 100 according to the presentdisclosure may distinguish only the pair of left and right eyes of thefirst user even when multiple pairs of left and right eyes are detected.Thus, the stereoscopic cluster 100 may control the barrier based on thedistinguished pair, such that a clear stereoscopic screen may beprovided for the first user.

Further, when the abnormal state is determined, the cluster mayautomatically switch the stereoscopic screen to a 2D screen such thatthe first user does not miss the cluster information to help the driverwith safe driving.

Further, according to the present disclosure, utilizing the existingultrasonic sensors, mat sensors, and auto-light sensors, and the likemounted on the vehicle may allow a clear stereoscopic screen to berealized without any additional cost increases.

FIG. 9 illustrates a computing system in one form of the presentdisclosure.

Referring FIG. 9, a computing system 1000 may include at least one ormore processor 1100, a memory 1300, a user interface input device 1400,a user interface output device 1500, storage 1600, and a networkinterface 1700, which are all connected via a bus 1200.

The processor 1100 may be implemented with a semiconductor device thatprocesses instructions stored in a central processing unit (CPU) or thememory 1300 and/or the storage 1600. The memory 1300 and the storage1600 may include various types of volatile or nonvolatile storage media.For example, the memory 1300 may include a ROM (Read Only Memory) and aRAM (Random Access Memory).

Thus, the operations of the method or algorithm illustrated inconnection with the forms disclosed herein may be embodied directly in ahardware module, a software module, or in a combination thereof, asexecuted by the processor 1100. The software module may reside instorage medium (that is, the memory 1300 and/or storage 1600) such as aRAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROMmemory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, etc.

Exemplary storage media may be coupled to processor 1100. The processor1100 may read information from the storage medium or write informationto the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may beintegrated with the processor 1100. The processor and storage medium mayreside in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASICmay reside within the user device. Alternatively, the processor andstorage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one form of the present disclosure, the stereoscopic cluster for thevehicle may distinguish only the both-eyes of the driver in detection ofmultiple pairs of left and right eyes in the vehicle, thereby providingthe driver with a clear stereoscopic screen to enhance the driver'sconvenience.

In addition, various effects may be provided that are directly orindirectly identified herein.

Hereinabove, although the present disclosure has been described withreference to exemplary forms and the accompanying drawings, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, but may be variously modified andaltered by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosurepertains without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure.

Accordingly, the forms disclosed in the present disclosure are intendedto illustrate rather than to limit the technical spirit of the presentdisclosure. Those forms may not limit the range of the spirit of thepresent disclosure. The scope of protection of the present disclosure isto be construed in accordance with the following claims, and alltechnical spirits within the scope of the claims shall be construed asbeing included in the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A stereoscopic cluster for a vehicle, thestereoscopic cluster comprising: a processor configured to: detect atleast one pair of left and right eyes from acquired image data; when atleast two pairs of left and right eyes are detected, distinguish a pairof left and right eyes of a first user among the at least two pairs ofleft and right eyes; and provide a stereoscopic screen based on thedistinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user; and adisplay controlled by the processor to display the stereoscopic screen.2. The stereoscopic cluster of claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to: determine presence or absence of a second user other thanthe first user in the vehicle; and when the second user is present,distinguish the pair of left and right eyes of the first user among theat least two pairs of left and right eyes.
 3. The stereoscopic clusterof claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether thesecond user is present in the vehicle based on a received sensed valuefrom an ultrasonic sensor configured to sense movement within thevehicle, or from a mat sensor configured to sense whether acorresponding seat is seated.
 4. The stereoscopic cluster of claim 2,wherein the processor is configured to: when the at least two pairs ofleft and right eyes are detected, and the second user other than thefirst user is present, distinguish the pair of left and right eyes ofthe first user based on a dimension of each of the at least two pairs ofleft and right eyes, and based on a distance between each of the atleast two pairs of left and right eyes and the stereoscopic cluster. 5.The stereoscopic cluster of claim 2, wherein the processor is configuredto determine whether a current time is nighttime when the at least twopairs of left and right eyes are detected and the second user other thanthe first user is absent.
 6. The stereoscopic cluster of claim 5,wherein the processor is configured to: when the at least two pairs ofleft and right eyes are detected, the second user other than the firstuser is absent, and the current time is the nighttime, distinguish thepair of left and right eyes of the first user based on a dimension ofeach of the at least two pairs of left and right eyes, and based on adistance between each of the at least two pairs of left and right eyesand the stereoscopic cluster.
 7. The stereoscopic cluster of claim 5,wherein the processor is configured to determine a current state as anabnormal state when the at least two pairs of left and right eyes aredetected, the second user other than the first user is absent, and thecurrent time is daytime.
 8. The stereoscopic cluster of claim 7, whereinthe processor is configured to control the display to provide atwo-dimensional (2D) screen thereon when the current state is determinedas the abnormal state.
 9. The stereoscopic cluster of claim 8, whereinthe processor is configured to: when determined that the abnormal statereturns to a normal state while the 2D screen is being presented,provide a pop-up on the display such that the first user selects whetherto change the 2D screen to the stereoscopic screen.
 10. The stereoscopiccluster of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to determinewhether the current time is the nighttime based on at least one ofinformation received from an auto-light sensor or information receivedfrom a navigation device.
 11. The stereoscopic cluster of claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to: detect a face zone of the firstuser; detect features in the detected face zone; and track coordinatesof left-right eyes among the features.
 12. The stereoscopic cluster ofclaim 1, wherein the display includes: an image panel including aright-eye image pixel for providing a right image for a right-eye, and aleft-eye image pixel for providing a left image for a left-eye; and abarrier disposed on a front face of the image panel, wherein the barrieris controlled by the processor.
 13. The stereoscopic cluster of claim12, wherein the processor is configured to control the barrier based ona position of the pair of left and right eyes of the first user.
 14. Asystem comprising: a passenger detection device configured to detectpresence or absence of a passenger in a vehicle; and a stereoscopiccluster for the vehicle, wherein the cluster is configured to: detect atleast one pair of left and right eyes from acquired image data; when atleast two pairs of left and right eyes are detected, distinguish a pairof left and right eyes of a first user among the at least two pairs ofleft and right eyes; and provide a stereoscopic screen based on thedistinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user.
 15. Amethod for providing a stereoscopic screen, the method comprising:detecting, by a processor, at least one pair of left and right eyes fromacquired image data; when at least two pairs of left and right eyes aredetected, distinguishing, by the processor, a pair of left and righteyes of a first user among the at least two pairs of left and righteyes; and providing, by the processor, a stereoscopic screen based onthe distinguished pair of left and right eyes of the first user.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the distinguishing the pair of left andright eyes of the first user includes: when a number of the detectedpairs of left and right eyes in the vehicle is at least two, determiningpresence or absence of a second user other than the first user in thevehicle; and when the second user is present, distinguishing the pair ofleft and right eyes of the first user based on a dimension of each ofthe at least two pairs of left and right eyes, and based on a distancebetween each of the at least two pairs of left and right eyes and astereoscopic cluster.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein thedistinguishing the pair of left and right eyes of the first user furtherincludes: when the number of the detected pairs of left and right eyesin the vehicle is at least two and the second user other than the firstuser is absent in the vehicle, determining whether current time isnighttime; and when the current time is the nighttime, distinguishingthe pair of left and right eyes of the first user based on the dimensionof each of the at least two pairs of left and right eyes, and based onthe distance between each of the at least two pairs of left and righteyes and the stereoscopic cluster.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinthe distinguishing the pair of left and right eyes of the first userfurther includes: when the current time is daytime, determining acurrent state as an abnormal state; and providing a two-dimensional (2D)screen for the first user.
 19. The method of claim 18, furthercomprising: continuously determining, by the processor, whether thesecond user is present in the vehicle and determining the current timewhile the 2D screen is being presented; and when the continuouslydetermining the current time determines that the abnormal state returnsto a normal state, providing a pop-up for changing the 2D screen to astereoscopic screen.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein the determiningthe presence or absence of the second user includes: determining whetherthe second user other than the first user is present in the vehiclebased on a received sensed value from an ultrasonic sensor for sensingmovement within the vehicle, or from a mat sensor for sensing whether acorresponding seat is seated, wherein the providing the stereoscopicscreen includes controlling a barrier based on a position of the pair ofleft and right eyes of the first user.